Radha Krishna - Chapter 16: How Lord Paras'urâma Came to Destroy the Ruling Class Twenty-one Times

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Oh son of the Kuru dynasty, Paras'urâma thus by his father being advised said: 'So be it!', whereupon he for a year traveled to all the holy places. Then he returned to the âs'rama. (2) When Renukâ [his mother] one day went to the bank of the Ganges, she saw the king of the Gandharvas [see also 9.14: 31]. He was garlanded with lotus flowers and sported with the girls of heaven, the Apsaras. (3) She observed his affairs as she went to the river to fetch some water. Slightly drawn to Citraratha, she forgot the time of the fire sacrifice. (4) Realizing that she had neglected the time, she upon returning was afraid to be cursed by the sage and stood with folded hands before him, having put the waterpot in front of him. (5) The sage understood she had deviated from the rule and became angry with his wife. He said: 'Remove her my sons, she's full of sin', but the sons did not carry out his order. (6) Râma who through his meditation and austerity was fully aware of the prowess of the sage [and confided perfectly in his authority], in response to the encouragement of his father immediately terminated his mother and all his brothers. (7) When Jamadagni thus being pleased asked him what benediction he would like, he said: 'Give those whom we have lost their life back without them remembering their punishment!' (8) Soon they all rose happily and alive like they had awakened from deep sleep, since Râma had executed the punishing of his kin in the full awareness of the power of his father's austerity.

(9) The sons of Kârtavîryârjuna [9.15: 17] oh King, [meanwhile] could not have peace with the remembrance of their father being defeated by the superior power of Paras'urâma. (10) When Râma one day with his brothers was away from the âs'rama in the forest, they, seeking revenge, took the opportunity to approach their residence. (11) Finding the muni sitting at the fireplace fully absorbed in contemplating the Supreme One Praised in the Verses, they, determined to do evil, killed him. (12) Being most cruel towards the poor and unprotected mother of Râma who begged for the life of her husband, they, those 'kshatriya' brothers, violently cut his head off and took it away. (13) Renukâ, the chaste wife down in tears grieving, stroke her body with her hands and cried loudly: 'Oh Râma, oh Râma, my dear son!' (14) Hearing the sound of that most sad cry 'Oh Râma', they [Râma and his brothers despite of being] far away, hastened back to the âs'rama where they saw that their father had been murdered. (15) Bewildered by the schock, they all lamented and angrily, depressed, sad and indignified cried: 'Oh father, oh saint, you who are such an example of dharma have now departed for heaven and left us behind!' (16) Thus bewailing their father, Paras'urâma entrusted the body to his brothers and personally took up the ax, determined to put an end to the kshatriyas. (17) Râma went to Mâhishmatî, [the capital] that was doomed because a brahmin had been killed. There he in the middle of the town made a great pile of the heads he severed from their bodies.

(18-19) Their blood formed a terrible river that brought fear to all the rulers who defied the brahminical culture. Because the kshatriyas, the royal class, had killed his father, he acted to their detriment and twenty-one times over wiped them off the earth. He as a master of war thus at Samanta-pañcaka created nine lakes filled with blood instead of water [see also B.G. 4: 7].

(20) Joining his father's head with his body he kept him on kus'a grass and worshiped with sacrifices the Godhead, the True Self and inspiration of all the demigods. (21-22) The hotâ priest he gave the eastern direction, the brahmâ priest he gave the southern direction, the adhvaryu he gave the western side and the udgâtâ received the north [compare 9.11: 2]. The others and Kas'yapa Muni he assigned the different corners and the middle Âryâvarta portion [*] he gave to the upadrashthâ priest who supervises the mantras. The assisting sadasya priests received whatever remained. (23) When he thereafter took a bath, he, on the bank of the major stream that was the Sarasvatî, was cleansed of all impurities [remaining from killing the kshatriyas] and radiated like a cloudless sun [see also B.G. 3: 9]. (24) Because of Paras'urâma's worship, Jamadagni regained his body with all the symptoms of consciousness and became the seventh seer in the constellation of the seven sages [see 8.13: 5, linked to the saptarshi-mandala stars around the polestar]. (25) Paras'urâma, the son of Jamadagni who is also the Supreme Lord with the lotus petal eyes, will be a propounder of Vedic knowledge in the next period of Manu oh King [as one of the seven sages, see 8.13: 15-16]. (26) He who in peace with the intelligence has given up the clout, still today can be found in the hills of Mahendra and is worshiped and revered for his character and activities by all the perfected ones, the singers of heaven and the venerable ones. (27) This is how the Soul of the Universe, the Supreme Lord Hari, the Controller who appeared as an incarnation in the Bhrigu dynasty and killed the rulers of man many times, relieved the earth of its great burden.

(28) From Gâdhi's loins [see 9.15: 4-5] a most powerful personality [Vis'vâmitra] was born. He as perfect as a fire, gave up the kshatriya position and achieved the quality of a brahmin by performing austerities [see 7.11: 35 and footnote at 9.7: 7]. (29) Vis'vâmitra also had sons: one hundred-and-one of them oh ruler. Because the middle one carried the name Madhucchandâ they as a group were called the Madhucchandâs. (30) He accepted S'unahs'epha, the son of Ajîgarta, who with the name of Devarâta ['saved by the demigods'] appeared in the Bhrigu-dynasty, as his own son. He ordered his other sons to accept him as the eldest one. (31) He was the one who was sold as the 'man-animal' for the yajña of king Haris'candra. After offering prayers to the demigods headed by Lord Brahmâ he was released from being bound like an animal [see 9.7: 20]. (32) Stemming from the line of Bhrigu he was advanced in spirituality and was therefore protected by the godly ones involved in the sacrifice for the gods. S'unas'epha was for that reason in the dynasty of Gâdhi also celebrated as Devarâta. (33) The [fifty] eldest Madhucchandâs could not very well accept the fact [that he would be the eldest brother] and were all cursed by the muni who got angry. He said: 'May all of you bad sons become mlecchas [**]!' (34) It was Madhucchandâ who together with the rest of the fifty sons then said: 'We will conform to whatever would please you in this matter oh father!' (35) They accepted him [Devarâta], a seer of mantras, as the eldest and said to him: 'We will all follow you.' Vis'vâmitra told the sons: 'You sons will all have sons because you favored my honor as a father of [worthy] sons. (36) He [Devarâta] is a son of mine, just like you are oh Kus'ikas [***], please obey him.' And there were many other sons: Ashthaka, Hârîta, Jaya, Kratumân and more. (37) Thus it is clear what the branches of the dynasty of Kaus'ika are according to the different positions that were obtained by the sons of Vis'vâmitra [the ones obedient, the ones disobedient and the ones adopted].'